Just Starting
by Just-Like-Ginny
Summary: Follow the first of the new generation, the first Weasley, and the first Potter into their first days at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
1. First of the Generation

"Come on, Harry!" The boy's hair changes from a royal blue to a light blue as he grabs his godfather's hand and pulls him violently behind him.

"Slow down, Ted," he calls after Teddy gives up and drops Harry hand to rush ahead. "Ollivander isn't going to be running out of wands any time soon." Ignoring him, Ted pushes his way through the crowd as quickly as he can manage until he is out of sight. Harry finally spots him in front of the wand shop. The little boy, now with forest green hair, is staring, open-mouthed, at the wands in the windows. Harry walks up beside him and stares in, as well. "Are we going to go in or just stand here?"

"I—" He can't manage to get a word out. It's finally time. He's finally getting a wand of his own. The eleven-year-old looks up at his godfather as if to ask if this is real.

Harry chuckles, stepping to the entrance and holding the door open, motioning for Teddy to go inside. "You coming or what?" As if he weren't sure until this point, the boy rushes forward and into the store, looking at the wands surrounding it in amazement.

The boy bounces around as they approach the counter, his hair rapidly switching from green to red to yellow to black to blue to orange. "What kind of wand do you think I'll get? I bet it'll be phoenix feather like yours! Or maybe dragon heartstring! I hope it's not unicorn tail. What if—"

"Mr. Potter." Mr. Ollivander's voice rises from around the corner. "I wondered when I might be seeing you again." Teddy freezes, looking up at Mr. Ollivander in awe. "Well, who have we here? Could this be Remus Lupin's little one?"

"Teddy Lupin," Harry explains, nodding. He pats his godson on the back. "My godson."

"Ah," he studies the boy. Teddy's hair moves to a dark brown color, as if he is trying to avoid irregularity. "Yes, I was there when Remus asked you to be the godfather." Harry nods, remembering the day Lupin arrived at Bill and Fleur's with the news his son was born—a metamorphmagus, not a werewolf—and the question if Harry would accept the honor of being the boy's godfather. "Now, a wand for young Lupin…" The old man wonders off into one of the isles of wands.

It might be his imagination or just the excitement from all the different stories about wands choosing wizards, but Teddy seems to see a light directing him to a white maple-wood wand next to the window case. He wonders over slowly, almost afraid of the spell the wand seems to have created over him. Harry watches carefully as his godson is pulled away, remembering the instant connection he had felt to his own phoenix-feathered wand.

Mr. Ollivander waddles over, carrying a wand box, but stops when he sees Teddy's eyes focusing on a wand in the corner. Harry glances back at the old wand maker, now making his way to Teddy's side. "Try it out," Ollivander advises, giving Teddy the permission he needs to snatch the white wood from its stand and flick it at the floor.

Ted's hair turns blue in the anticipation. Nothing happens at first, and a look of disappointment finds it's place in the boy's eyes. But then a floor tile moves, and something green is visible between two of a floor tiles. The green dot grows into a line, until there is a three-inch vine growing into the wand shop from the ground below. The blue-haired boy smiles up at his godfather in triumph. Ollivander brings his hands together into one loud clap. "That does it, boy. The only veela hair wand I've ever made. It's yours."

"Oh, come on," Teddy rolls his eyes up at Harry, "that's worse than unicorn tail."

Harry can almost hear Mr. Ollivander speaking before he opens his mouth. "The wand chooses the wizard." Twenty-two years ago, that sentence meant the connection between Harry and the wizard who murdered his parents and eventually half the people he cared for. Now, it seems to mean no more than Teddy will have to deal with a wand of veela hair.

* * * * *

"What if I just say they were out of school books?" Teddy tags behind Harry as he walks through Flourish and Blott's. "Could I get out of doing homework all year?"

Harry rolls his eyes as he finds the row with all of the books on the kids' Hogwarts' lists. "Don't count on it." He points to the shelf and turns to his godson. "Go."

Teddy's hair changes to a deep angry red as he kneels by books, looking for the ones on his list. He picks out his Herbology, Potions, and Transfiguration books when he pauses, removing a fourth book from the case. "Hey, Harry?" Harry is only partly paying attention when he looks over to the boy. What silly idea does he have now? "You're picture's on the cover." Sure enough, Teddy hands Harry the A History of Magic vol. II book, and right on the cover is Harry, grabbing the Elder wand as it flies from Voldemort's lifeless hand. The writers add to this book once every hundred years, and they couldn't find anything more important for a cover? Who would have even had a camera at that battle?

Harry sighs as he notices young eyes around the store focused on him. "Just grab volume I and your Defense Against the Dark Arts book, Ted," he orders, shoving the book in his hand under his arm as if his inability to see the book's front would change anything. "Let's go."

As they leave Flourish and Blott's, Teddy struggles to keep up with his Godfather's quickened stride. "It says I can bring a cat, frog, or owl." The boy is losing more of his breath with every step. "Can't I bring an owl? Oh—don't I get a broom?" He must have spotted the broom shop across the street.

All Harry can focus on is getting out of Diagon alley. He thought the constant reminders were over. He thought he could finally go on with his life, but apparently he had been wrong. "You'll get a broom once you learn how to control your flight." He sighs, hoping not to be forced to stay any longer. "And weren't you going to take Moony with you?"

"But then Grandmum won't have an owl."

"There are plenty of owls within the family," Harry responds as they approach Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. "I'm sure we can figure something out."

"Heya, Harry! Teddy," George's voice calls as they enter the shop. "What can I do ya' for? Teddy want some stuff to bring to school with him?"

Teddy's face lights up as if that were the most brilliant idea he has ever heard, but Harry shakes his head. "We're not staying. We're just here to floo back home." Obviously sensing that something is wrong with his brother-in-law, George lets the pair pass and head straight for the fireplace.

As they enter the small brick archway, George calls after them, "maybe I'll bring a few things by tomorrow." He sees Teddy's bright smile and Harry's eye roll just before they disappear into a puff of green smoke, only to appear again in Twelve Grimmauld Place.

"Can you _believe_ this?" Harry shrieks before he even fully appears in his home.

Ginny peaks her head around the corner to see what happened just as Harry throws the book onto the floor in front of him. She approaches slowly, seeing the view of the book as she gets closer. "Oh, Harry."

One-year-old Lily Potter squirms in her mother's arms as James runs into the room and grabs the book. "Lookie, Al! Dad's famous!"

"Duh," a deep purple-haired Teddy responds with an eye roll at the four-year-old's absurdity, "he's only been famous since he was Lily's age."

Ignoring the children, Harry looks to his wife. "A hundred years of new history, and nothing was more important than this?" The redhead gives him a sympathetic half smile and he knows the answer. So what if this ended the 'Dark Lord''s reign? Maybe that day _was_ the most important day in the hundred years, but more people affected it. He wasn't alone in that battle. "The prophecy came true. It was supposed to be over a long time ago." He collapses on an armchair next to the couch.

Ginny places the squirming girl in a baby chair on the opposite side of the couch before placing herself perpendicularly onto Harry's lap and stretching her arms around his neck. "The war was over a long time ago. The _connection_ was over a long time ago." She places a hand on his face, rubbing his cheek slowly. "The fame? The recognition? Everything that you have been trying to run from since you were eleven—that will never go away."

"That's bloody brilliant." The sarcasm rips from his lips as he pushes Ginny's hand away from his face. The two Potter boys look up at their father's outburst in surprise. Lily remains silent, preoccupied with her toes. Teddy lets out a laugh, but hides it when Harry's head turns his way. "So I'll be 'the hero' for the rest of my life. Everybody forgetting how many more people I could have saved if I had been faster, smarter, less selfish. Most of the deaths were _because_ of me."

"And there would have been thousands more if _not_ for you," she responds, almost scolding him for belittling his triumph. "Nobody doubts that you lost a lot of people you loved—even some that didn't have to die at that time." She makes another attempt to massage his cheek. He tenses at first, but shortly allows her to continue. "In the end, you were selfless. You ended the reign of the most vicious dictator ever to rise to power. People want—people _need_ to remember that."

Harry stays in his chair with a pout as Ginny lightly kisses his forehead before standing up and wondering into the kitchen to make dinner. He knows she's right. He is a part of history, and he should be used to it by now. But if he's not proud of himself, how could everybody else think of him as a hero?

Lily's shrieking tears interrupt Harry's thoughts. The little redhead lies on the floor, her high chair on top of her. James and Albus stand across the room, surprised. "What happened?" Harry scold, looking between the girl's two brothers. Albus obediently points to his older brother, whose eyes widen at the betrayal. Harry silently scorns his oldest son with his eyes, which is always worse than a verbal assault.

"I just sneezed!" Harry looks over to Teddy for confirmation as he reaches to lift the girl from the floor. The now orange-haired boy nods, giving James his freedom.

It's not until Lily is settled back into her seat and smiling with her favorite stuffed duck that Harry realizes what just happened. "James? Did you just do accidental magic?" The little boy, who had noticed this fact long before his father, has already been celebrating on his own. He smiles brightly up at his father. "Ginny," Harry shrieks, calling to his wife, "James just did magic!"

Ginny comes running in, smiling from ear to ear. "What did he do?"

Harry freezes. "Well, he knocked Lily's chair over." Ginny freezes, her smile transforming into a much less thrilled face. "But it was a sneeze—a complete accident. And Lily's fine." Ginny sighs with a small laugh. "Hey, at least he didn't get her stuck behind glass in a snake exhibit."

"No, that's your thing." She lifts her oldest son off the ground, twirling him around. "Not that Dudley didn't deserve it, from what you've told me."

"Come on, Ted," Harry says, motioning for Teddy to follow him. "Let's go owl Andremeda. We'll tell her to come over for a small celebration dinner." Harry and Teddy leave the room to go send Padfoot, the owl, off with their news.

* * * * *

"Bloody hell." The smile on Teddy's face could light up the chamber of secrets as he steps onto platform 9 ¾. Realizing his grandmother is watching him, he quickly wipes the smile from his face and shrugs. "Looks pretty cool, I guess."

Andremeda smiles and shakes her head as Harry, James, and Albus walk onto the platform behind them. "Right, Teddy's too cool to be impressed." Ginny enters behind them, carrying Lily in her arms. Smiling, she brushes past Teddy as she walks ahead of the group.

"I am, too. Right, Dad?" James asks, failing at his attempt not to look amazed by the Hogwarts Express in front of him.

Harry laughs at his oldest son. He is only four, but does all he can to be exactly like his eleven-year-old idol. "Sure are, James." Unlike the two older boys, Albus makes no attempt to hide his amazement. He just stands, staring wide-eyed at the train as more and more students pile through the doors.

"Hey, there, Potters. Andremeda. Ted." The group turns to find Percy standing before them with a nervous smile and a robe. He leans down toward the green-haired boy and whispers to him, "Don't worry. It's my first day, too."

The little boy takes a step back, shaking his head. "Who's worried?" He grabs his bags and runs off ahead, never looking back until he reaches the train entrance. "Don't cry, gran!" He shouts from his spot halfway up the stairs. A few tears have fallen down her cheek, and she wipes them away quickly. "I'll be back for Christmas." He continues onto the train, knowing his family won't be leaving until the train is out of view.

He walks through the train, checking for an empty compartment. His hair turns an average-colored brown as he searches for the people he will be spending the next seven years with. After going down the whole isle without finding and empty compartment, he finally settles on one with two boys gaping out the window. "Mind if I—"

"Yeah, sure," the taller of the two cuts him off, still staring at the window. "Who do you think he's here for?" Teddy realizes he's now talking to the other boy. "I'm pretty sure that's his oldest, and he looks what? Five? Four?"

Already knowing who the boys are looking at, Teddy approaches the window. As he suspected, they are staring at Harry, who is looking at all the windows as if trying to find somebody. His eyes finally hand on his godson and he sends him a smile and a wave. James begins to jump and mouths "Bye, Teddy! Have fun at Hoggywarts!" Teddy assumes he's actually screaming it, but cannot hear a thing through the glass.

Stepping back from the window, the two boys look intently at their new compartment-mate. They must have seen that Harry had been looking in their direction when he waved. The taller of the two has long black hair, and almost looks like the old pictures that Harry had shown Teddy of Sirius from when he was at Hogwarts. The shorter has dirty blond hair that stops just below the top of his ears. He's a little lanky, but what thin eleven-year-old isn't? Teddy stares back at the boys, as if he has no idea why they are looking his way.

"Who are you?" It's the blonde to talk this time.

Teddy gulps, and the words almost don't even come out. "T—Teddy Lupin."

The boys search their minds as if they should know his name. But how would they know him? They haven't even been to any classes yet. They have not learned about the Order of the Phoenix, Potter Watch, old Hogwarts professors, or anything that his parents were involved in. All they could possibly know are the stories they have been told. And who would ever talk about the Lupins?

"Lupin!" The black-haired boy finally says after watching Teddy's hair go from his brown color to a dark blue. "Your mum was a metamorphmagus, married a werewolf, who had been best friends with Harry's dad and Sirius Black back in school. The whole lot died in the war against Lord Voldemort, and—" He had been so proud of himself for knowing the story that he had forgotten who we was talking to. "But, err, you know that story, I'm sure." Teddy just nods, having no idea how to respond. "So Harry's your godfather, then?" Teddy nods slowly, wondering if this will change the way he is seen.

"Well I'm bloody jealous," the shorter blonde adds with a chuckle. "I bet he's taught you everything he knows, too."

"Nah," Teddy sighs. It seems to be okay, so far, at least. "He says I should learn everything in school."

"I heard in his fifth year, he taught the whole school how to do a patronus because the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was trying to kill them!"

Teddy laughs. The stories about Harry are always exaggerated by the time he hears them from people his age. "It wasn't the whole school. Only about twenty kids. And she wasn't trying to kill them. She just wasn't teaching them how to defend themselves."

"Well if it isn't Harry Potter's werewolf-blooded godson." The voice comes from the doorway as Teddy finishes talking. An older boy, probably in his fourth year, stands in the door to the compartment. He has a couple friends behind him, sneering into the compartment though the glass. The main boy turns to Teddy's fellow first years. "Better watch out. Between Potter's dark magic and his pop's blood, you never know what this kid's capable of in a full moon."

"Is there a problem here, Mr. Parkinson?" All six boys turn towards the teacher just to the side of them. The man Teddy knows so well is standing before them, in his normal perfectly confident stance.

The boy, Parkinson, apparently, puts on a fake smile and looks up at the professor. "Not at all, Professor Longbottom." He glances at the boys in front of him. "We were just getting to know some of the new kids."

"Well, then," Neville begins, doubtfully, "play nicely." He gives Teddy a wink before walking away. The fourth-years each give him slight death stares as he struts away. Teddy imagines it is the same look that Harry, Ron, and Hermione used to give Severus Snape before they found out he was on their side, after all.

"Parkinson?" Teddy looks shocked as he puts it together. "As in Pansy Parkinson?"

The boy gives a proud smile. "She's my Aunt—had a good hand in raising me, after her brother died in the battle. Some werewolf killed him." Everyone's silent, and he just shrugs. "But I hear he got what was coming to him—his little traitor-blooded metamorphmagus wife, too." Teddy's hair immediately turns red as his eyes narrow.

The blonde first-year lays a hand on Teddy's shoulder and responds for him. "So you have death eater blood, then."

Parkinson laughs, looking back at his friends, who are also laughing. "Most of Slytherin house has death eater blood these days." He takes a step toward Teddy. "Watch yourself." Motioning to his friends, the three of them turn around and walk off.

The younger boys all silently sit in their compartment. The dark-haired boy finally speaks after a long silence. "The war ended eleven years ago. I bet they're the only freaks that still even care about it." Teddy nods thankfully as his hair rests into a deeper, softer red. "The name's Corvus. And he's Randy," he kicks the blonde beside me.

"I can speak for myself, thanks," Randy says, sarcastically. "Be he's right. My brother's a third year, and he says only a handful of Slytherins are still sour about the war. I'd bet you have nothing to worry about."

Teddy shrugs as he relaxes into his seat. "Who's worried?"

The group is interrupted from another voice outside the compartment. "Anything from the trolley, dears?" Teddy smiles and reaches in his pocket for the galleons Harry had given him before the left.


	2. First of the Weasley's

"Eez zees ze train?" Fleur asks as the family steps onto the platform. "Are you sure eets safe?"

Bill laughs and kisses his wife on the forehead. "Of course it's safe. The kids have been taking it every year for centuries." They step forward toward the Hogwarts Express, Victoire half hidden by Teddy.

"Come on, Vic," Teddy urges, pulling her forward, "you've been looking forward to this for months. Get on. You'll be fine."

"What if that Parkinson boy you're always complaining about is there?" She peaks her head through the space between Teddy's arm and stomach. "What if he throws a spell at me?"

"If Vic doesn't want to go," Dominique interrupts the conversation, cheerily, "I'll go, instead!"

"Victoire's going." Bill warns, looking to his oldest daughter, who just slides in further behind her currently blue-haired friend.

Teddy looks at the eleven year old seriously, disregarding the side chatter from her family members. "He is only sixteen. He can't do magic on the train yet. Besides," he turns briskly to face the girl and shrinks down to her height, "it's my father he has the problem with, not yours."

Rolling her eyes to show Teddy he had not made a very convincing argument and pushing her strawberry blond hair out of her face, Victoire moves on to her next concern. "What if I'm not in Gryffindor? My father and all my aunts and uncles, and even all of their parents were all Gryffindors! What if I'm in Hufflepuff? What if--"

"There's nothing wrong with Hufflepuff." He only looks slightly aggravated, and she can't even tell if it's from the statement or from her complaints in general. Nonetheless, she regrets her words immediately.

"Oh, no. I know your mum was in Hufflepuff. And she's amazing. But I just mean-- my entire family-- I don't want to--"

"And there's nothing wrong with Ravenclaw, either." He's rolling his eyes wildly. So maybe he is just fed up with her constant worries. "Harry and Ginny's friend Luna was in Ravenclaw, and she's still one of their best friends."

"I just meant-- what if I'm in Slytherin?"

"Trust me. You don't have a chance of being in Slytherin." He pushes her playfully before nodding a farewell to his grandmother and running off toward the train without explaining how he can be so sure she won't end up in the one house that has had a record of dark wizards behind it for centuries.

Victoire watches Teddy jump onto the train before taking a deep breath and turning to her family to give her farewells. Bill kisses her forehead and sends her towards her mother, who does the same. "You veel be amazing, jus' like your fazzer." Victoire simply smiles and nods at her family, before turning and timidly approaching the large Hogwarts Express.

Once she steps onto the train, Victoire takes a step into the long aisle. Kids are walking swiftly through come compartment to compartment looking for their rightful places. She can't help wondering where Teddy ran off to and if she should try to find him or just find some other first year students.

"Took you long enough." Teddy pops out from behind a wall next to Victoire, making her jump backwards. He grabs her wrist and pulls her up before she gets a chance to tumble down the stairs she had just climbed up. "Come on." He takes off down one of the aisles, the hair he had turned brown to fit in to the crowd while he was hiding now transforming to a loud, almost glowing, red.

He finally reaches his compartment and opens the door, revealing two of his fellow third years—Randy, who came home with Teddy last Christmas, and a black-haired boy Victoire could only assume to be Corvus. Randy smiles when Teddy walks in, standing to slap hand with him. "Gryffindor red. Nice choice."

Teddy nods and laughs. "You caught me." He looks over and sees Victoire standing outside the door, and motions for her to step inside. She obeys, shyly. "You've met Randy. And Corvus, this is—"

"Duh," the tall boy stands and takes Victoire's hand into his as she blushes, "Victoire Weasley."

He must have said it a little too loudly, because the entire train seems to go silent and turn to stare. Victoire, who is still standing in the doorway to Teddy's compartment and is, therefore, visible to a large amount of the other compartments, turns pink as she glances around at all the faces. The other kids begin whispering amongst themselves. What is going on?

It seems to continue like this for a long while until a familiar figure makes its way toward Victoire. "Word around the express is that I'm finally going to have a another Weasley in my house." Neville smiles down at the girl. "It's about time, too." The little girl smiles back up at him, silently screaming in embarrassment. Why does everybody know her? Neville sees the three boys sitting there, and brightens even more than normal. "I've been made head of Gryffindor house." All three faces brighten at the words. "But that doesn't mean you lot get any special privileges." He turns to walk away. "Well, not too many, at least," he jokes with a wink and struts off.

Victoire automatically turns to Teddy, fear in her eyes. "See? I _have_ to be in Gryffindor!" Teddy snorts and his friends laugh. He must have warned them she would be like this. "Neville even assumes I will be. If I'm not—"

"If you're not," Teddy finishes for her, "then absolutely nothing happens. You're just not stuck with me for the next five years."

"So it's true, then." A voice comes from the hallway before Victoire gets a chance to even start to answer Teddy. The group turns to find an older boy standing in front of them, staring down at the little strawberry blonde. "There's finally another Weasley in the Hogwarts student body."

Teddy rolls his eyes as he looks up at him. "What do you want, Parkinson?" Victoire immediately turns to Teddy, scared. He avoids eye contact with her, knowing her gaze would only make him weaker.

"Oh," the older boy begins, sarcastically, "I just wanted to come see one of the notorious Weasley clan for myself. I figured she'd be with you. After all," his eyes are dancing with the remark he has floating around his mind, "you werewolf kids have to stick together." Laughing, he turns and starts to walk away as Victoire's eyes tear and Teddy's hand moves into a fist.

"You bloody coward!" Teddy calls after him. He stops walking, still facing away. "Say something like that, and walk away. Just throw a bloody curse at me. I know you want to." The boy doesn't turn around, and Teddy forces out a chuckle. "I didn't think so. No wonder you're not a Gryffindor."

In an instant, he is turned around and face to face with Teddy, who doesn't even flinch as the older charges his way. "Why would I _want_ to be in a house filled with part-bloods and blood traitors?"

"Oh, _come on_, not even one third of Slytherin is pure blood, anymore."

"No werewolves in there."

"Better werewolves than death eaters." Even Victoire's surprised to hear the words come out of her own mouth. The three Gryffindor boys are gaping at her, and the Slytherin's eyes narrow.

With a simple mutter of "Weasleys." The Slytherin boy turns and walks away without looking back.

Victoire instinctively grabs Teddy's hand for support, and he squeezes her hand, letting her know he is proud of her. The pair sits down, and Randy smiles brightly at Victoire. "Looks like there might be a bit of Gryffindor in you, after all." The little girl stays quiet, but, from that moment, has a smile on for the rest of the ride.

* * * * *

"Ravenclaw!" the hat calls out to the crowd. The Ravenclaw table breaks out into cheers as the brunette rises from her chair and makes her way to her rightful table.

"Weasley, Vicoire." And the room is silent once again. It takes Victoire a few seconds to realize it was, indeed, her name that was called. Glancing at the professors' table, she sees Neville and Hagrid both sit up a little in their seats as she approaches the chair with the singing hat that he had always heard so much about.

It's talking to her the moment it touches her head, as he had been told it would. "Hah." She jumps at the sound. Is it mocking her? "I wondered when I'd be seeing another Weasley. Twenty-five years without sorting one of you, but I have not forgotten…" And then, louder, it shouts, "GRYFFINDOR!"

The cheers break out. Neville even claps a little louder than he had for the other first years that joined his house. Victoire even thinks she hears Teddy whistle as she glides down the steps, smiling, and runs over to the Gryffindor table.

Teddy moves over, giving her room to sit beside him. "Told you not to worry about it." She can't seem to wipe the smile off her face. All the fear, and she was put in the house she had been hoping for all along.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she says, still beaming, and she looks up to watch the end of the sorting ceremony.


	3. First of the Potters

"Do you think I'll make the Gryffindor Quidditch team first year, too?" James stares up at Teddy, his eyes sparkling from the thought.

The green-haired boy rolls his eyes for the tenth time since they left the house. "Don't count on it, squirt." He ruffles the eleven-year-old's dark red hair. "Besides," he begins, knowing how upset he's about to make the boy, "you don't even know if you'll be put in Gryffindor."

"Don't be stupid, Teddy," he declares, ignoring the Hogwarts graduate's words with an eye roll of his own. "Both my parents were Gryffindors, all my uncles were Gryffindors, and the my aunts that went to Hogwarts were Gryffindors."

"Molly's not—"

"Molly's a git."

"James Sirius Potter!" Ginny scolds from three steps behind the pair. "We do not talk like that—especially about family."

The boy rolls his eyes again before correcting himself. "Only one of Molly's parents was in Gryffindor. So I'm twice as good—" he glances toward his mother, who shoots him another warning glance. "Twice as _likely_," he corrects again, "to be in it." The boy walks forward, head held high. He suddenly feels his feet slip in a puddle of water, and fall out from under him, landing on his behind.

Teddy's hair changes to bright blue as he attempts to hold his laughter in, and turns to James's brother, holding his father's hand. It's Ginny to shout the warning, again, though. "Al…"

The little boy turns red and his ears rise, but he does not move. "It wasn't me!" Lily lets out a few accidental giggles before freezing and halting her sound.

"Lily?" Harry questions as the three adults turn to look at the girl holding his other hand. The girl turns a brighter, Weasley red, and steps behind Harry's waist, hiding from the others. "Did you do that?" The little girl nods into his side, peaking from around her father's body. James finally stands, rubbing his backside. "And you were going to let Albus take the blame?" Again, she nods into his side, and he has to force himself to avoid laughter. She always has been daddy's little girl.

"How did Lillers get so cool?"

"Hey!" James shouts.

"Ted!" Harry scolds, at the same time. Teddy laughs and shakes his head before taking off toward the express. "Where're you going?"

"Oh," he pauses, turning back to the Potters with a smirk, "I just want to see some of my old friends off." He turns back around and walks toward the train, as if he knew exactly where to find his old friends.

"Mum!" James complains, still rubbing his behind as he lifts his things off the ground. "Aren't you going to punish—"

"_Harry Potter?_" The family turns to see a blonde little girl standing feet away, gaping at the patriarch of the group. "Daddy, look! It's Harry Potter!" Heads turn their way from all around the platform and the noise transforms to near silence in a matter of seconds. This little shouter's father takes the girl's hand and silently joins the rest of the platform's gaze.

"Go on, son," Harry urges, pretending not to notice anything around him, "make us proud."

The little boy steps away from his family silently. The stares move his way as whispers of "son?", "a Potter at Hogwarts?", and "what does it mean?" echo around him. He glances back to his father, who stays watching him proudly, unlike all the other eyes, almost attempting to dissect him.

He stumbles up the high steps and into the nearly empty train. After finding an empty compartment, he sits, staring out the window, where all eyes are still plastered on his family. Now he knows why his dad always complained about going out in public places. How embarrassing!

After about two minutes, the compartment door burst open and two redheaded boys and a brunette boy crowd in. "Hiya, James!" Louis shouts once his cousin looks up at him.

"We figured you were here," Fred explains, "when everyone was silent around the place. It had to mean Uncle Harry was already here." He sits next to his younger cousin. For the first time, the year difference between James and the older two seems like centuries. They know their way around Hogwarts. They expected this reaction to his dad. And he had been so sure he knew everything he needed to know.

Louis and the other boy sit on the opposite side of the compartment. "This is Gabriel. He's a—"

"Hey, you four." Victoire pops into the compartment, smiling. The light from the window reflects off of her prefect badge, causing the group to shield their eyes. "Hey, James. Good to see you. If these three," she gestures toward the second years with him, "give you any trouble, just let me know." She grabs her brother roughly and ruffles his hair. "Especially this one."

Louis pulls away violently, "we would _never_ do any such thing," he smirks.

"Yeah," Fred agrees, nodding, "even if he's put in Slytherin. We'll be the perfect cousins."

"You don't have to worry about _that_," James concludes, head held high. The group looks over at him, skeptically. "I'm sure to be a Gryffindor."

"How do you—"

"Both of my parents were, and all of my uncles were. I'm just as likely as any of you were—more than you two," he points toward Victoire and Louis, who just gape at him.

After a few moments, Victoire rolls her eyes. "Well, good luck with that." She turns and struts off, leaving it unclear if she had been wishing luck to James or to the others.

James casually looks out his window again as the older boys fall into gossip about how different everybody looks. It does not take long for the little boy to find his father again. People are still constantly stealing glances at him, but it is less intense than when they first noticed his presence. Teddy has joined the family again, and waves happily once he catches the first year's gaze. James waves back enthusiastically as the train takes off towards its destination.

* * * * *

"First years, this way." The students stare up at the large creature in fear, but James just smiles. Their eyes finally lock and the half-giant gives him a genuine smile. "Hi, there, James."

The little boy smiles up at the large man he has known his whole life. "Hi, Hagrid." A few nearby first years look over, dumbfounded. Clearly, they had never been in contact with any half-giants. James can't help but laugh at the thought of these kids coming in contact with Grawp, who tags along with Hagrid to dinner at the Potters' house on special occasions.

The first years all follow Hagrid towards the water, where the boats are waiting for them. Most make sure to stay far behind him, as if they expect him to turn around and attack. One boy makes his way to the front of the group, to where James strolls silently. "Is it true," he whispers, just loud enough for James and the few other students nearby to hear him, "that you're Harry Potter's son?"

James rolls his eyes. "Yeah. I am." He should have expected this. He always seems to forget that his family is any different from anyone else's. His father does not like to talk about it, so none of their friends or family members mention it when he is around. He's only read about the stories in his new schoolbooks, and overheard a couple conversations between his parents. He figures most of the other kids at Hogwarts know more about his family than he does. But from what he's heard, that was the case with his father, too. And he seems to have turned out just fine.

Every kid within earshot moves closer, struggling to hear everything they can. "Did he really kill Lord Voldemort with an _expelliarmus_?" It's funny, how the older a book is, the less likely it is to have Voldemort's chosen name in it. Recent editions don't use anything but his name, to show that there is no longer any reason to be afraid of him. He's gone and means nothing. There is no reason not to use his name.

James shrugs his shoulders, just wanting to get away. Don't they get that he doesn't know any more than they do. No, of course they don't. They wouldn't understand. "I guess so. I wasn't exactly there."

"My mum was!" a blonde girl says from a few paces to the left. "She says that he came back from the dead to block a curse Voldemort threw, then killed him with the disarming spell." She smiles, proud to be contributing to the historical recounting, "I didn't even know you could kill someone with that spell."

"You can't." A boy a couple feet further away adds. Their voices must be getting louder, because even more people are now listening intently to the conversation. "But the wand Voldemort was using backfired on him, because it was supposed to be Harry's wand." He then turns to James with a serious look. "Does he still have the wand?"

The boy is taken aback. "Erm—I'm not sure." Which wand? They can't be talking about the old wand his dad always uses. He said he got that when he turned eleven and it even broke once. Whatever wand they're talking about doesn't sound like the one he is so loyal to.

"How could you not _know_?"

"Alright, group." They finally reached the water's edge. "Everyone get into a boat. No more than four in one." He looks down at a frightened James as everyone else runs off in different directions. "You can come in mine." The boy lets out a relieved sigh as he hops in behind Hagrid.

Half of the ride goes silently, until James finally decides he needs to know more. "Hagrid?" The half-giant looks over at the small boy. "Why doesn't Dad talk about what happened there?" He gestures toward the school.

"'Arry talks about 'Ogwarts all the time. Quidditch, Ron and 'Ermione, Ginny, Dumbledore, his classes, Proff—"

"I mean the battle."

His large face falls. "Oh. Well, yer dad doesn't like to remember that part. 'e doesn't want ter relive it."

"But he was a hero, wasn't he?"

"To us. But to 'Arry, 'e cost a lot more people ther lives than 'e needed to." His slight discomfort is obvious, but James can't seem to force himself to let him stop. He has been wanting to know this story for eleven years. "'e thinks 'e could 'ave saved more people—Sirius, Teddy's parents, 'Ogwarts students. Regrets not being faster."

James sits back in his seat, knowing that is all the information he will be squeezing out of Hagrid right now. Perhaps over time, he will learn the whole story. But one thing's for sure. He will have to put the pieces together on his own.

* * * * *

James can't help but chuckle at all the nervous kids around him. They're all scared to death of an old singing hat. Sure it's a hat that, with one word, will decide the next seven years of their lives, and in turn shaping who they will be even after completely those seven years. But seriously, it's a singing hat!

Sure, it helps that James already knows he will be placed in Gryffindor. He scans the room to find the three different shades of red hair clumped together at the Gryffindor table. His cousins are all watching the sorting ceremony, Victoire taking notes as each students joins the table.

James glances over at the only redhead at the Ravenclaw table, just as he hears "James Potter!" For the first time, a slight feeling of doubt races into his body as he approaches the hat. What if everybody's right? Molly's a Weasley. She was put in Hufflepuff. What if it happens to him, too? No! He _has_ to be in Gryffindor. His _blood_ tells him so.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" echoes through the room and all eyes transfer to the Gryffindor table, where Victoire slaps Fred in the back of the head. Fred bursts into a fit of laughter before everyone turns back up to where the hat has just landed on his cousin's head.

"At last, a Potter." The voice must be coming from the hat. The raspy whisper is everything his parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins have described. It echoes over and over in his head, almost hypnotically. "Plenty of bravery, of course. Confidence and insecurity of a Weasley. A need to live up to expectations. Better go with GRYFFINDOR!" The last word is said out loud to the room, as he had heard will all of the other students.

Loud cheers come from the Gryffindor table the James stands and makes his way to his cousins. Sitting across from the strawberry-blonde girl, he smiles triumphantly. "Told ya' so." His fellow redheads roll their eyes as they take turns patting him on the shoulder.


End file.
